Well-tubing catcher



R. A. WILSON., WELL TUBING CATCHER. ION FILED FEB.20, 1920. RENEWED FEPatented Apr. l2, 192], 2 ssssssssssss 2.

ROBERT A. WILSON, or miams, TEXAS, Assienoit 'ro rein amenacen consonaf5";

TKION, OF DALLAS, TEXAS, A UCRPOTION @E DELAWARE.

WELL-TUBING eerenrsi` Application iled February 20, 1920, Serial No.360,031-, Renewed February 24, 31921. Serial No; 447,551.

To all whom t may concern;

Be it knownthat I, ROBERT A. WILSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates,`residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas,have invented certain newl and useful Improvements in l/Ve'll-TubingCatchers, of which the following isa specifieation. vThis' inventionrelates to new and useful improvements in well tubing catchers.,

The invention has particularly but not necessarily to do withimprovements uponv the device covered by Letters Patent' No.

f 1,218,549 issued tol S. A. Guiberson, Jr., on

Marcli 6, 1917. The improvement resides in providing an'equal andpositive bearing surface for the gripper slips or dogs in all theiradjusted positions.v

In the patented device .the slips ride up' and down on a conicalsurface. Tlieinner or bearing surface radius of each slip is constantwhile the radius of the conical. surface varies from a maximum at theupper end to a minimum at the lower'end. Consequently the bearingsurface of the slip if made to conform tov the Varch of the head at onelocation, would not iit and bear evenly on said surface when adjusted.By reasonof this the 'strain must be sustained to a' large extent by theslips.

In carrying out the present invention the head is provided 'withinclined faces for the gripper slips, each face transversely curvilinearon a radius constant throughout its length. Each slipvhas its' innerface orsur'- face transversely' curvilinear Von the same radius wherebyit bears evenly on the inclined surface of the corresponding faceV onthe head and contacts over its entire surface at any of its adjustments.By such an arrangement an even distribution of the strain is had and issustained by both the slip and the head substantially the same as ifsaid head and slip were integral.

Other improved features willV be Vhereinafter more fully brought out.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing speciiication and by reference to the accompany ingl drawingsin which an example of the invention is shown and wherein:

F igure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a woll casing showing 'thereina tubing catcher embodying my improvements,

` head, showing Fig. 2 is an elevation of the head and- Speciicaton ofLetters Patent. Patented pii. l2, llilil... y

tubing. section, a portion of the head being in section and vshowing thecollar and tubing cast therein, i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged. elevation of the clinecll bosses,l

4-'-4 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is an underside view of the head.

Iii the drawings the numeral 10 desigthe face of one of the in-y Fig. 1is a cross-sectional view of the line nates a wellcasing and 11 thesection of the well tubing with which the catcher isv einl bodied. 12 isanupper section ofthe tubing and 13 is a lower section of the same.These .y three sections suiiiciently indicate the line of tubing whichis of considerable. length and weight.-

The catcher includes a head 14 in which i a collar 15 and the upper endof the tubing section 11 are cast. The lower end of they; 1 uppersection 12 is screwed into the collar.

15, and a collar 16 unites the lower end ofV the section 11 withv thelower section 13. Bv

sey

casting the collar 15, section 11 and the head Y together, the parts aremade integral andv the head is thus better able to withstand the y ilongitudinal thrust incident tothe operation l of the gripper. slips17.`

I have shown three gripper slips or dogs. i

17 although the number .may vary, and each has the usual teeth 18 on itsouter face.

The head is formed with a plurality of upvardly and outwardly inclinedfaces 19,

one for each slip. At the base of eacliface a lug 2() is provided'andeach lug has its upper surface in the form of an inwardand outward bevel21.- E'ach slip has its lower i` end 22 correspondingly beveled to fitthe bevel 21. The slips are wedge-shaped and when inoperative rest onthe lugs in which position their teeth 18' are within the dianieter ofthe head and lugs and therefore can-A l i .not engage or catch on thecasina'.y

The

beveled faces 21 and 22 tend to guide the I slips inward as will beapparent.

The-very important feature of the invention is the curvilinear' surfacesor faces Each face is curvilinear transversely on the same radiusthroughout its entire lei'igth and the inner face of each slip iscorrespond-J ingrly curved, thus the entire inner face of a slip willContact with its face on the head@l at any elevation to it isadiiisvtedj.y

ice'

The curvaturexgof the faces is' clearlyillustrated in Fig. '4, where itvwill be seen that "vided between the faces which also act as. Huidcourses. ,The advantage of this strucr4mous strain and shock to whichthe slips must bra-subjected is considered. Each slip the center 'ci thearch becomes eccentric and the radius is constant. The. faces on thehead are formed in rectangular panels so that the slips have an equalbearing at all elevations. Converging sumps 24 are proture will beappreciated when the enorcontacting throughout its entire area will besustained by the head which will absorb the shock and will bear thestrain. It will bey seen that in structures where the -slip does notcontact along its sides with the head f, there is liability of the slipbreaking or' cracking under uneven strains. y

A collar weight 25 is 'slidable on the section llbelow the head.Counter-sunk ears 26 in the upper edge of the collar weight receive thelower ends of links -27 which slide through enlarged. slots 28 in thelugs 20. Each link has its upper end pivoted 1n the bottom of la, slip-When the collar weight is displaced upward on the tubing i section 'theslips 17 are moved upward by the links 27. The collar weight is partlysupported on a coiled spring 29 surrounding the section 11 and restingon the collar 16..

The spring is only partly compressed by the collar weight therebypreventing to a great extent the ordinary slight vibration of thespring, occasioned by stopping and starting t e tubing while lowering itinto, and raisving it out of the well, and the vibrations caused inpumping, which vibrations in ordinary practice are sometimes suicient tocause the slips to move upwardly and into contact with the casing. n

lf the tubing should break the inertia of the collar weight 25,accentuated by the tendency of the spring to expand will cause saidcollar weight'to maintain its position. The head and tubing section,however, being attached to the line of tubing will tend'to descend morerapidly; consequently the. links 27 being sustained by the inert collar'weight will support the slips 17 and the latter will be thro-wn outwardby the inclined Afaces 23 when the head movesudownward.-

The teeth l18 bein sharp and hard will readily bite into tie casing 10and hold against a further drop. It will be seen that the inner face ofeach slip 17 is at -all times in contact with the faces 23 and the slipsare thus lirmly supported by the head. This makes a very substantialstructure and reduces the liability of breaking`,fcracking and chippingto a minimum. l 'i The purpose of the beveled lugs and the lower endso1c the slipsbeing beveled to fit is to hold the slips intofcontact withthe faces o the head by means of the colla-r weight only part of itsweight being sup-l ported by the coil spring.

The invention is not limited lto a tubing -catcher as 4the transversecurvilinear faces with a constant radius and slips with inner faces ofthe same radius could be used in other oil well and well drilling'tools.

Various modilications may b e made in the construction shown in thedrawings and above particularly described, within the purview of myinvention.

What l claim, is: i. A well tubing, catchercomprising, a head, havinlongitudinally extending inclined portions," converging downwardly,

.each portion having a lace curved in cross arc having a radius,constantthroughout the entire length of the slip, whereby the slip face closelylits the face of said, portion lthroughout its entire length and suchclose fitting is' permanently maintained during the operation of thedevice. A

'2. A" well tubing catcher comprising, a head having longitudinally`extending in# clined portions co. nvergi-ng downwardly,

.each portion having a face curved in cross section, said face beingformed upon an arc having a constant radius throughout the entire lengthof the face, gripping slips eX- tending longitudinally of said portions,said slips having inner inclined faces converging downwardly, eachslipface being curved in cross section and formed upon an arc havinga radiusconstant .throughout the entire length of the slip, whereby the slipface closely lits .the face of said portion throughout its entire lengthand such close fitting is permanently maintained during the operationoie the device, andlineans to move the slips longitudinally' withrelation to such ortions.

3, .n a device :ofthe character described, s

a tube section', -asleeve internally threaded to receive the end of thetube section', a head cast upon the sleeve and upper end of the tube'section te be yrigidly connected therewith, said head havinglongitudinally extending inclined portionsconverging downwardly, saidportions being' spaced to form longitudinal passages and each portionhaving face curved 1n cross section, said lace being' formed upon archaving a constant y radius throughout the entire length of the face,said head being provided at its lower -end with lugs` said lugs havingopenings formed tlieretl rough, links slidable Within the openings.Jcollar weight slidable upon the 'tube section. beneath the. lugs landpivotay aonnected 'with 'bhe nks, a spring surrounding n@ mbe secn andengaging the collar weight, and grinning slips extending longitudinallyof said porins, said slips having inner nned faces cenvergingdownwardly, nach slip face being curved in cross section an@ ormad uponan are avng a raus constant hzoughout the antifa engh of the slip,whereby in@ slip face closely tsng is permanently -Inaillianed during tsth, face of said; portion` hroughout its entire .length and such closeAthe operation of the device,v and an upper- RGBERT A. WILSON.

